A new dimension

in logistics in the
paper industry
24/7 production and
logistics operation
 Customer
Palm Paper in King’s Lynn, UK

Reels being handled in 24/7 production operation at Palm Paper in the UK. New dimensions in paper production.

The task: challenging

The solution: technology made by Demag

Outstanding paper factory

When Palm Paper put its PM 7 paper machine
into production in King’s Lynn to serve the British
newspaper industry in 2009, it became one of the
highest-performing paper factories in the world.
The installation, which includes the world’s largest
stock preparation facility, produces high-quality
newsprint from completely recycled paper.
There were also new challenges for us – not only
due to the speed of the PM 7 with its enormous
output. We supplied the crane systems for the pro-
duction and storage operations at the Palm Paper
paper mill on the East Anglia coast. Besides the
logistics strategy at the facility, a new solution was
also needed to pick up the packed rolls of paper.
24/7 operation at 2,200 m/min
24/7 newsprint production with a daily output of
more than 2,800 kilometres of paper measuring
10.63 m in width imposes demanding requirements
on the downstream processes. Since the paper is
produced to order for almost all customers, the
in-house materials handling systems must have a
seamless interface with the customers’ logistics
operations. This combines two complex workflows.
The requirement was to provide an integrated
solution for the intermediate storage and shipping
of 400,000 tonnes of newsprint.

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 Requirements
Demag for all crane logistics
needs in King’s Lynn
Palm Paper ordered the crane technology including
all crane runways for production, maintenance and
the automated paper-roll shipping store: for us,
Palm Paper in King’s Lynn became the largest paper
industry project to date.
Dr. Wolfgang Palm,
owner of Palm Paper, comments:
“Our PM 7 in King‘s Lynn is a success
story – also thanks to our partner Demag,
who provided us with help and planning
advice from the very beginning. We are
highly satisfied with the way the project
was handled, the proven performance
of the installation and the implementation
in our systems.”
Mechanical grippers set new standards for automated handing of paper rolls
New Demag gripper technology
We supply complete crane solutions from a single
source including the required load-handling
attachments. For the paper-roll shipping store, a
new mechanical gripper system has been devel-
oped which sets new standards for handling and
utilisation of the storage areas – which provides a
significant increase in speed and performance.
The cranes employed in King’s Lynn:
••Paper production
••Two 150-tonne process cranes on the PM 7
••Six double-girder overhead travelling cranes
with capacities from 10 to 125 tonnes in
various areas for stock preparation, mainte-
nance and production
••Paper-roll shipping store
••Six fully automated double-girder overhead
travelling cranes with mechanical grippers
••Demag warehouse management system
(WMS) with a direct interface to the host
computer at Palm Paper.
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 At a glance
Reliable and
versatile cranes
Process crane at the dry end of PM 7
Cranes with up to five hoist
units for every application
Two Demag process cranes with load
capacities of 150 tonnes, which have
been used for handling reels and
maintenance of machinery since the
PM 7 entered service, had already
played a major role in the erection of
the paper machine.
One crane, which operates at the
wet end, is equipped with a 150
tonne crab to lift and turn the roller
out of the machine. A masterslave
function ensures that the lifting
motions are absolutely synchronised
for combined operation with two
further 75-tonne hoist units.
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7 Overhead travelling crane above the
packing machine
Semi-automated crane
positioning
The crane operating above the dry
end picks up the empty reels and
returns them to the empty-reel
store. It also lifts full reels onto the
reel trolley, which transports the
load on rails at right angles to the
parallel second rewinder. Thanks to
the semi-automated crane control
system, repeated positioning
operations are carried out quickly
and precisely, which provides
improved speed, safety and relia-
bility for the process and the opera-
tor. Each fitted with two further
10-tonne cantilever crabs, the two
crane installations have the required
flexibility to perform repair and
maintenance tasks.
Overhead travelling crane for handling cores
Cranes and workstations
A process crane that operates
above the second rewinder is
equipped with two 16-tonne hoist
units for transporting the empty
reels between the reel trolley and
the rewinder.
In addition, we supplied five other
double-girder overhead travelling
cranes with load capacities of
between five and 125 tonnes for
process and maintenance
applications:
••in the recycling paper processing
facility
••above the packing machine
••in the roller store
••for handling cores
••in the mechanical workshop.
Store layout
for higher capacity, more speed

The store at Palm Paper consists of four bays (112.5 x

36.05 m), crossed by conveyor systems. Two adjacent
bays are divided up into a grid pattern for stacks of rolls
measuring between 750 and 1,350 mm in diameter, two
others are divided up into a grid pattern for stacks of
rolls measuring between 1,200 and 1,600 mm in diame-
ter. This arrangement provides optimum utilisation of the
available space. With a theoretical fill level of 100%, the
store will have a total capacity of 65,000 tonnes cover-
ing a total area of more than 12,000 m2.

Honeycomb layout n Process cranes n Gripper maintenance area

A honeycomb arrangement of the rolls of paper n Conveyor systemk n Lorry loading zonee
provides the best possible utilisation of the available
space. Thanks to the new Demag gripper technology,
the honeycomb layout can also already be used with
the automated storage and order-picking operation for
sets of rolls employed today.
Benefits of the automated
Two double-girder overhead travelling cranes operate crane-served store
on each of the crane runways in bays 1 and 3. The ••Optimum utilisation of the available storage space
cranes are assigned to dedicated working zones and, (more than 30% less than manually served stores)
if required, one crane can also sustain the normal ••Careful and gentle handling of the rolls of paper
processes. One crane operates in each of bays 2 and 4. ••Maximum safety for operating personnel.
In combined storage and retrieval mode, the cranes can
handle almost 400 rolls of paper per hour.

Rolls of paper being stored 24/7 production operation at

in stacks Palm Paper in the UK

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 Our solution

New Demag gripper system

for the paper industry

New gripper system for high handling rates

New special gripper for paper Firm hold, safe, reliable and fast
To transport rolls with paper wrapping, we have devel- ••The six gripper arms require only a minimum of space
oped a gripper system that can be used to firmly pick up ••Fully automated handling of the rolls of paper
single and sets of rolls with a constant contact pressure. ••Up to four rolls of paper in one operating cycle
••High speeds without any damage to the rolls of paper
Significant increase in handling rates ••Safe handling thanks to reliable design even if two of
The rolls of paper are transported by the conveying the gripper six arms fail
system to the store transfer points at the same height ••Redundant secondary monitoring sensors installed in
level as the PM 7. The warehouse management comput- the gripper.
er positions the process cranes with millimetre precision
above the centre of the paper rolls. Depending on the
roll dimensions, up to four rolls of paper can be picked
up simultaneously in each operating cycle.
Under computer control, the groups of rolls (overall
height of 3,600 mm, total weight of up to 6 tonnes)
are precisely transported to their destination and
stacked to heights of up to 11.5 m. Due to the com-
pact gripper arm design, the rolls of paper can be
stacked very close together at a maximum distance of
only 150 mm apart. Rolls are retrieved direct by crane
onto conveyor lines on level 0.

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The system
Logistics strategy –
warehouse management system

All of the cranes are controlled by the Demag Scheduled retrieval

warehouse management system (WMS). This For retrieval, the host computer sends the
system links the production operation with the loading lists to the WMS, which ensures that
cranes in the paper-roll shipping store and the the rolls of paper are transported just in time
store logistics system, and also with the to the lorry-loading bays. Every day, up to
customer’s host system. 9,600 rolls are moved and assigned in this way
– carefully controlled by the warehouse
The data on the produced rolls of paper are management system.
received from the customer’s host computer
system. The Demag warehouse management
system communicates the destination for the
rolls to the conveying system and to the crane
control system. The rolls of paper are meas-
ured, labelled and stored fully automatically.

Host

Roll data Roll dimension data Roll movements Loading lists

(incl. order data)

Demag warehouse management system (WMS)

Loading list
management

Crane visualisation Arrival Destination

messages information

Store content
information

Crane control Operating Conveyor material

system (KS1..6) terminal flow control
system

Weighing device Labelling system Measuring system

Demag warehouse management system with interface to the customer’s host system

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Details
Complete range of intralogistics solutions
with proven Demag Service
Complete solutions for the paper industry
We supply process crane solutions tailored to meet
specific requirements worldwide. The paper industry is
a key sector for which the company has unique
industryspecific expertise to ensure efficient intralogis-
tics processes in paper mills:
Full service for the paper industry
In peak periods, up to 1,500 tonnes of paper are pro-
duced, buffered and staged ready for shipping at Palm
Paper in King’s Lynn every day. We offer comprehensive
support throughout the lifecycle of the crane installations
with its range of services.

••crane solutions to serve paper machines and ••Maintenance and service agreements tailored to meet
••automated cranes and load handling systems for individual needs
paper roll stores ••Remote diagnosis and maintenance
••planning of roll stores including control systems ••Highly specialised pool of service engineers for process
••warehouse management systems with interface to crane applications
customer’s host computer. ••World-wide spare parts service
••Installation modernisation.
We supplied 14 cranes for the paper mill operated by Palm Paper in King’s Lynn

Crane Hoist units with Track gauge

Operating site Load handling attachments
type load capacity [t] [mm]

Paper machine
Wet end ZKKW 150 75 75 10 10 30,100 Balancer for changing reels

Dry end ZKKW 150 75 11 11 30,100 Balancer, non-rotatable reel spreader

Rewinder 2 ZKKE 16 16 22,000 Spreader for empty-reel transport

Production processes
Core handling ZKKE 10 10 13,500

No liability for errors or omissions. Subject to change.

Roller store ZKKW 62.5 62.5 21,540

Packing machines ZKKE 10 10 21,540 Spreader for rolls of packing paper

Mechanical workshop ZKKE 5 5,600

0817 EN/DE 213 695 44 702 IS 110

DIP stock preparation ZKKE 20 28,700

Printed in Germany D/310817/PDF

DIP stock preparation ZKKE 12.5 6.3 9,900

Automatic paper-roll shipping store

3 automatic cranes in bays 1 and 2 ZKKW
3 automatic cranes in bays 3 and 4 ZKKW
ZKKW: process crane with multi-purpose open winch unit
ZKKE: standard double-girder overhead travelling crane
Mechanical gripper for rolls up to 1,350 mm
6 35,500
in diameter
Mechanical gripper for rolls up to 1,600 mm
4 35,500
in diameter

Demag Cranes & Components GmbH

Wetter site
Ruhrstrasse 28
58300 Wetter / Germany
E info@demagcranes.com
P +49 2335 92-0
F +49 2335 92-7676
www.demagcranes.com